Longfin dace | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Cypriniformes |
Family: | Cyprinidae |
Genus: | Agosia Girard, 1856 |
Species: | A. chrysogaster |
Binomial name | |
Agosia chrysogaster Girard, 1856 | |
Synonyms | |
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The longfin dace (Agosia chrysogaster) is a species of leuciscid fish found in southwestern North America. It is the only species of the monotypic genus Agosia. The Gila longfin dace is considered the nominate subspecies, and the Yaqui longfin dace is considered a form.
The genus name Agosia is of Native American origin, and the species name chrysogaster is derived from Greek, where chrysós means "gold" and gastḗr means "belly". [3]
Longfin dace have a bluntly shaped snout and head with a slightly subterminal mouth. The upper jaw contains a small barbel and tends to protrude above the lower jaw. [4] The body is fusiform and covered with small scales. Longfin dace have 70-95 scales along their lateral line, 7-9 anal fin rays, and 9 dorsal fin rays. An adult longfin dace has a maximum total length of 4 inches (100 mm), although it rarely reaches 3.2 inches (81 mm). [4] Age estimation with scales and length-based grouping suggested that most longfin dace live less than two years. [5]
Longfin dace are native to the deserts of southwestern North America, notably in the American states of Arizona and New Mexico and northern Mexico states of Sinaloa and Sonora. [6] The longfin dace is tolerant to a wide range of water temperature, and is found in low elevation desert streams to mountain brooks. [4] They prefer streams that have sandy or gravel bottoms, typically with overhanging banks or cover to use as protection. During periods of drought, longfin dace may seek refuge in algae and detritus mats. [7]
Longfin dace are omnivorous and opportunistic feeders. They can feed on invertebrates, zooplankton, algae, and detritus. [8]
Longfin dace reach sexual maturity within a year and are able to spawn throughout the year, although most spawning occurs in spring and late summer. [4] Longfin dace will create depressions in the sand to deposit their eggs, which provide cover from predators while the eggs develop and hatch. The eggs and juveniles receive no parental care.
In the United States, longfin dace are considered secure but have been reduced in abundance due to habitat change and introduced fishes. [1] [9]
The Virgin River is a tributary of the Colorado River in the U.S. states of Utah, Nevada, and Arizona. The river is about 162 miles (261 km) long. It was designated Utah's first wild and scenic river in 2009, during the centennial celebration of Zion National Park.
The common dace is a species of freshwater and brackish water ray-finned fish from the family Cyprinidae which is native to Europe but which has been introduced to other parts of the world. It is a quarry species for coarse anglers.
The northern redbelly dace is a fresh water cyprinid fish, generally found in lakes and small streams in the northeastern United States and eastern Canada. Ranging from 1–3 inches, it is one of forty-four species from the minnow and carp family of Cyprinidae in these areas.
The longnose dace is a freshwater minnow native to North America. Rhinicthys means snout fish and cataractae means of the cataract. Longnose dace are small, typically less than 100 mm and characterized by their fleshy snout that protrudes past the mouth. They are well adapted for living on the bottom of fast-flowing streams among stones. Longnose dace eat algae and aquatic insects and are important forage minnows for larger predatory fish.
The bonytail chub or bonytail is a cyprinid freshwater fish native to the Colorado River basin of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming in the southwestern United States; it has been extirpated from the part of the basin in Mexico. It was once abundant and widespread in the basin, its numbers and range have declined to the point where it has been listed as endangered since 1980 (ESA) and 1986 (IUCN), a fate shared by the other large Colorado basin endemic fish species like the Colorado pikeminnow, humpback chub, and razorback sucker. It is now the rarest of the endemic big-river fishes of the Colorado River. There are 20 species in the genus Gila, seven of which are found in Arizona.
The Yaqui sucker is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Catostomidae. It is found in the Aridoamerica region of northern Mexico and south-western United States. Catostomus bernardini or Yaqui sucker belongs to the family Catostomidae. The Yaqui sucker is related to the Sonora sucker and could possibly be a subspecies of the Gila sucker.
The beautiful shiner is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae. It is found in Mexico and Arizona and New Mexico in the United States. It is one of 22 species of Cyprinella found in North America.
The Sonora chub is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae. It is found in Mexico and the United States.
The Gila chub is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae. It is found in Mexico and the United States. The Gila chub is closely related to the roundtail chub. This species is commonly found in association with the Gila topminnow, the desert and Sonora sucker, and the longfin and speckled dace.
The Yaqui chub is a species of freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae. It is found in northern Mexico and the United States. The Yaqui chub is a medium-sized minnow fish that historically occurred in streams of Rios Matape, Sonora, and the Yaqui systems of Sonora, Mexico. It is one of the five species of the genus Gila in Arizona. The Yaqui chub is closely related to G. ditaenia, and G. orcutti ; and shares several physical characteristics with the G. orcutti, but proves different by having a black wedge near the base of the caudal fin.
The Little Colorado spinedace is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae. It is found only in Arizona in the United States.
The Tennessee dace is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae. It is found only in the United States; particularly in northeast Tennessee and southwest Virginia, and parts of extreme northwest Georgia. Until recently, they were considered a subspecies of mountain redbelly dace. They are commonly found in East Tennessee in spring fed first-order streams, often in silt and fine gravel pools, or undercut banks. These streams usually do not exceed two meters in width.
The Gila longfin dace is a subspecies of the longfin dace found in Arizona. It is considered the nominate subspecies of the longfin dace.
The Yaqui longfin dace is a small fish of the American Southwest and northern Mexico, and considered a form of the longfin dace. It is often referred to as Agosia chrysogaster sp 1.
The Mexican stoneroller is a species of fish native to Arizona and Texas in the United States and parts of adjacent Mexico. It belongs to the carp family, Cyprinidae. The other species in this genus, Campostoma are morphologically similar.
The Sonora Sucker, Catostomus insignis, is a medium-sized catostomid fish with 16 other species in the genus scattered throughout North America. This species is remarkably similar in appearance to the Yaqui Sucker.
The Sonoyta pupfish or Quitobaquito pupfish is an endangered species of pupfish from Sonora in Mexico and Arizona in the United States.
Eastern blacknose dace is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus Rhinichthys. Its name originates from the Old French word "dars" which is the nominative form of the word "dart" in reference to their swimming pattern. The western blacknose dace formerly was considered conspecific. While morphologically the two species are not significantly different, they are allopatric. The eastern blacknose dace is found across the southeast portion of Canada and down along the United States' east coast. It is dark brown to olive on its dorsal surface and silvery white below, the two shades separated by the darkly pigmented lateral line. In the breeding season, males develop darker pigmentation and an orange lateral line. Blacknose dace live in rocky streams and rivers where they feed upon small invertebrates and microscopic biological matter and provide forage for larger fish.
The central stoneroller, or Ohio stoneroller, is a fish in the family Cyprinidae endemic to North America.
The river carpsucker is a freshwater fish belonging to the Catostomidae that is native to the inland United States and northern Mexico. This species has a slightly arched back and is somewhat stout and compressed. While the fins are usually opaque, in older fish they may be dark yellow. It is distributed along the Mississippi River basin from Pennsylvania to Montana. The river carpsucker, like most suckers, is a bottom feeder and obtains its nutrients from algae, microcrustaceans, and other various tiny planktonic plants and animals found in silty substrates. Like its congener, the quillback, the river carpsucker is long-lived, with a known maximum lifespan of 40 years in Colorado, and 47 years in Minnesota. It begins to reproduce typically in late spring, and the female usually releases more than 100,000 eggs. There is no parental care provided.